Barista Artistry

Coffee. It used to be simple. You'd grab
a cup and grab a pot: red handle for decaf or black handle for regular. With
just a little room at the top of the cup, you'd fill the rest with cream and
sugar. Give it a quick stir and you were ready to drink the caffeinated
beverage, hoping it would give you enough energy to get through the morning, or
until you could get another cup.

But today, people care more about their
coffee. Local shops around Indy have turned the coffee pouring business into an
art form.

THE
ROASTER

Andy
Gilman grabs a black and white cup and brings a 6-ounce cappuccino to life like
a pro. He explains the cup down to a molecular level in just two minutes, the
amount of time it takes to make "The Doctor." As he slides the cup over the
counter, a heart within a wreath floats perfectly on the surface.

Brynn Erdy

Bee Coffee Roasters' cappuccino, "The Doctor," with a free-pourheart within a wreath.

Andy
Gilman, Bee Coffee Roasters' co-owner, head roaster and trainer, wears a lot of
hats. He describes himself as a "coffee nerd."

He
received his Bachelor of Science in Geological Science and his Bachelor of Arts
in Painting from Indiana University. Gilman is a scientist and an artist.

"That's
what I love about coffee. There's science and art," Gilman says. "I am very
science-y, which helps describe [coffee] so people understand it. I put that
creativity into it -- and taste it -- this is what I bring out in the coffee,
and that's what I like: a beautiful marriage of science and art. It keeps it
exciting."

THE
SCIENCE

Many
coffee beverages at Bee Coffee Roasters use espresso. Gilman explains that
espresso is not a bean but a brewing method.

Nathaniel
Nolan, a barista at Bee Coffee Roasters, walks through the process. A
high-pressure machine finely grinds the coffee beans. Carbon dioxide, or CO2,
is exposed during the grinding process. It's important to move quickly after
this point to preserve the flavor and freshness. Then the grounds are densely
tamped into a puck-shaped disk and placed into a portafilter,
taking about 30 pounds of pressure to form. It must be tamped evenly to ensure
equal water distribution. This is necessary for the perfect extraction from the
bean to attain premium flavor: not too weak, not too strong.

Hot
water flows through the puck at a pressure of nine bar.
A regular cup of coffee is usually brewed at zero to one bar. The right amount
of pressure and heat is needed to release the oils and fat from the grounds as
well as CO2, which together forms the foam on top of the liquid. This foam is
also called crema.

Using
terms such as "flavonoids," Gilman explains the taste is "very strong and pungent." At
this point "that has everything from the bean you can get. A good barista knows
when to stop." If the process goes on too long, you are left with an "aspirin
taste."

As
the espresso is pulled well, the barista steams the milk. The milk consists of
water, fat and proteins. Gilman says you are "bringing out the sugars. It's
heavy, sweet, complex."

It's
now time for the artistic touch.

THE
ART

Gilman
explains the art. Espresso, with the crema, melts
together with the steamed milk and forms the design you see on top. Changing up
the stream of the steamed milk, making it thin or heavy,
brings the surfaces together forming a design. This is a free-pour
method. Designs take time, practice and dedication.

"It
doesn't come all at once, ever," Gilman says. He compared this process to
Shaquille O'Neal's ability, or lack thereof, to make a free throw.

Coffee
is the second-most traded commodity behind oil. People used to drink coffee for
its caffeine jolt, but today more and more people drink it for the taste -- and for the sheer indulgence of drinking a decadent coffee beverage.
One could argue local coffee cafés are becoming a national trend.

"Coffee
is the next culinary horizon people are thinking about," Gilman says.

Portland,
Oregon, Las Angeles, Chicago, Seattle and Kansas City are big coffee cities
according to Gilman. He wants Indy to grow as a coffee café city.